ACCC boss Catriona Lowe launches review of cold call protections amid fears for vulnerable Australians

The national consumer watchdog has launched an inquiry into telemarketing and unsolicited sales amid claims that current laws do not protect Australians. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on Tuesday unveiled the opening stage of its review to understand what consumers are facing with the rise of social media and decline of landline use. The ACCC has called for submissions from consumers, businesses and lobby groups over the next six weeks ahead of reporting on the scale of the problem and any potential fixes, including recommended changes to the law and regulations. The review comes in response to a call by the Consumer Action Law Centre in April for a crackdown on unsolicited selling, claiming it was a scourge in regional Australia and resulted in vulnerable people being signed up for overpriced products. The Consumer Action Law Centre made the call in April in a so-called super complaint that can be made by consumer and small business groups under rules passed by Federal Parliament in 2023. These groups can make one complaint in any 12 month period to the ACCC, which must decide within 90 days whether it contained a significant market issue or contained allegations of legal breaches. The ACCC decided to conduct the broad review into unsolicited sales, saying on Tuesday it was particularly concerned about the “impacts on consumers experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage”. ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe said unsolicited selling and lead generation could cause significant financial harm to vulnerable consumers. “We consider that a review . . . is necessary in order to better understand how the practices are used and their impacts across different cohorts of consumers,” she said. “Gaining a better understanding of these practices will help determine if further action is needed to better protect consumers.” The ACCC said a broad review of unsolicited selling and lead generation activities was necessary because of notable changes in consumer markets since Australian Consumer Law was introduced in 2011. It said in a briefing paper that consumers were being offered new types of finance linked to unsolicited sales, including buy-now, pay later. And unsolicited selling techniques were being increasingly used for solar panels and renewable energy products. The ACCC said there could be potential benefits of unsolicited sales, including consumers being made aware of government programs. But it acknowledged claims by the Consumer Action Law Centre that the complexity of solar panels deals made people more vulnerable to scammers. “The purchase of rooftop solar and its interaction with government rebates, subsidies and loans is complex,” the ACCC said. “Consumers attempting to navigate this area may rely primarily on the information provided by salespeople. “Some of the goods and services supplied by unsolicited selling are complex, giving rise to an information imbalance between the seller and the consumer.” Consumer Action Law Centre chief executive Stephanie Tonkin said she was “thrilled” by the ACCC inquiry, saying it showed the dynamic power of the super complaint regime. “Unsolicited sales are tricky as they happen out of sight, most often in regional areas, where people are persuaded to sign up in their homes for very expensive products they can’t afford,” Ms Tonkin said. “It’s an ongoing systemic issue that impacts thousands of Australians and causes real harm especially to those living in vulnerable circumstances. “Nothing short of a complete ban of these practices will fix this problem.”